artb@hplsla.HP.COM (Art Bori) (05/03/91)
On the local news last night (May 1) there was a segment about an unusual tandem "malfunction." This occurred in England when a tandem exited with a video man. As the video man closed in on the tandem he saw that they were slowly spinning underneath the drogue. They were on their side and slowly rotating about the connection point of the drogue. Apparently, when the tandem pilot threw out the drogue, the line wrapped around the pilot's neck. This not only caused the rotation (pivoting around the pilot's neck) but also caused the tandem pilot to black out. The newsreporter said that the tandem passenger had no idea that anything was going wrong. The video man was able to close on the spinning pair and deploy the reserve chute. It's unclear if the tandem pilot regained consciousness but the report did say the landing was safe or uneventful or words to that effect. Except for the line burns around the pilot's neck there were no other injuries. The video man did an exceptional job in closing on the tandem. They weren't spinning totally out of control but enough so that it was not only challenging but dangerous. In talking to a couple of tandem pilots, they tell me that it is very easy to do what this tandem pilot did. If the tandem pilot throws out the drogue while on their side, especially if they're in a psuedo barrel-roll, that it's very easy for the drogue to get caught in the burble and flop around. Pretty amazing stuff. Of course the save by the video man was laudatitory but then to have it captured on video was pretty unique. I thought it was interesting that the news anchor made a slightly snide comment about "everything" being captured on videotape but not anything derogatory about skydiving. Blue skies, Art Bori D-11402
geoffc@zebedee%tharr.uucp (Geoffrey Coan) (05/09/91)
In article <6730092@hplsla.HP.COM> artb@hplsla.HP.COM (Art Bori) writes: > On the local news last night (May 1) there was a segment about an unusual > tandem "malfunction." This occurred in England when a tandem exited with > a video man. As the video man closed in on the tandem he saw that they were > slowly spinning underneath the drogue. They were on their side and slowly > rotating about the connection point of the drogue. Apparently, when the > tandem pilot threw out the drogue, the line wrapped around the pilot's > neck. This not only caused the rotation (pivoting around the pilot's > neck) but also caused the tandem pilot to black out. The newsreporter > said that the tandem passenger had no idea that anything was going wrong. > The video man was able to close on the spinning pair and deploy the reserve > chute. It's unclear if the tandem pilot regained consciousness but > the report did say the landing was safe or uneventful or words to that > effect. As a bit of a follow-up to this, it appears that the tandem master deployed the drogue chute whilst they were still unstable (ie: very soon out of the aircraft) and it wrapped around his neck causing the blackout. The camera-man deployed the reserve at approx 2,300 ft (left aircraft at 12,000 feet) and once the tension was released on the drogue the tandem master regained consiousness and landed normally. The bit about the passenger not noticing anything is true as well, he thought that it was all part of the fun ! > Blue skies, > Art Bori > D-11402 Blue Skies Geoffrey -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- are you ready to SKYDIVE ?? Geoffrey Coan well all right then, if you say so ... ..!ukc!axion!tharr!zebedee!geoffc <- UUCP'd from my ST via tharr; *free* UK public access to Usenet 0234 720202 ->
barry@hpqtdla.sqf.hp.com (Barry Smith) (05/10/91)
/ hpqtdla:rec.skydiving / artb@hplsla.HP.COM (Art Bori) / 8:33 pm May 2, 1991 / >Pretty amazing stuff. Of course the save by the video man was laudatitory >but then to have it captured on video was pretty unique. I thought >it was interesting that the news anchor made a slightly snide comment >about "everything" being captured on videotape but not anything >derogatory about skydiving. This was entirely due to the handling of the situation by the Instructor who performed the rescue. His modest attitude and lack of dramatisation prevented this from becoming yet another media attack on skydiving. Well done on all counts Ronnie O'Brien. Blue skies, Barry Smith D4497 ----------
greeny@wotan.top.cis.syr.edu (Jonathan Greenfield) (05/17/91)
In article <1835638@zebedee%tharr.uucp> geoffc.zebedee@tharr.uucp writes: > >In article <6730092@hplsla.HP.COM> artb@hplsla.HP.COM (Art Bori) writes: >> On the local news last night (May 1) there was a segment about an unusual >> tandem "malfunction." > >The bit about the passenger not noticing anything is true as well, he thought >that it was all part of the fun ! The news report that I saw claimed that the passenger was aware that something was wrong, and was so shaken up that he refused to be interviewed (along with the others) after the incident. Jonathan